Path of Least Resistance
by OnyxRiver
Summary: Ally and Jesse Collins are twins who discover they have something special after their lives are turned upside down by tragedy. They are soon followed by a tall man with Horned Rimmed Glasses and his strange partner. Foul language and sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Caustic Solstice

San Diego, CA  
October 7th, 2005

The last moment I remember being normal started out just like every Friday night.

It was a weekly ritual to stand on the stage playing to over two-hundred screaming college students and blue collar workers at The Majestic. The club had a maximum capacity of ninety-seven, but the owner Frank Nunez had no problem bending the rules on that limit. How he managed to keep the Fire Marshall from shutting his ass down we never knew; we weren't even sure we wanted to. You couldn't blame the guy I guess. His customers willingly paid the twenty-dollar cover charge to come inside and pay for overpriced watered down hard drinks. On Friday and Saturday nights he made a nice chunk of change.

And every week Frank stood in the doorway of his office watching his small club turn into what I could only describe as _clusterfuck_ as he watched the capacity double until there was barely room to move. He would lean against the doorframe watching the girls behind the bar serving shots and beers to the unruly crowd. No Chardonnay or Cabernet would be served at this establishment. Nobody who took pleasure in the spirit would dare enter these doors. Our patrons were drunk, rowdy college students and blue collar workers. They danced on the bars and on the tables. It was pure gold!

So that brings me to us. We called ourselves Caustic Solstice. We were four college kids who started out playing in our garage in Orange County when we were in high school. We made up of my twin brother Jesse on the steel guitar. I call him my baby brother because I was born two hours ahead of him. He almost didn't make it into this world because I was taking up all the space in the womb. My presence nearly suffocated him. Well, there we were 22 years later and I was still sucking the lifeblood out of him. I dearly love my brother, even if he is a sanctimonious pain-in-the-ass.

And then there was our older brother Scott who played the drums. When I say older, I mean in age only. If we were judging by maturity, Jesse would be the oldest hands down. Scott was a sweet spirit, but a troubled soul. Our mother died when Jesse and I were two and Scott was four. It affected him deeply, though Jesse and I do not remember her, except in pictures. Losing her was hard on Scott and he became a troublemaker from the get-go. He stole cars, was insubordinate to his teachers and was expelled from two high schools for selling weed. But music always soothed his savage soul. That was when our dad encouraged us to collaborate and the result was brilliant. We invited our childhood friend Tim Sanchez who could play a righteous base guitar to join us and Caustic Solstice was born.

And then there was me. My name is Allison Collins; Ally to my family and friends. I was the lead singer and lead guitar. I was considered by myself and others to be the glue that kept us together. The band was my soul and it was because of me that band became the success it was in the college scene. Where my twin is down to earth and realistic, I was feisty, passionate and a self-confessed dreamer. I once had dreams of the big time. While the others were ok with being a 1980's retro cover band, this was never good enough for me. Don't get me wrong; I love the music of some of my idols. Joan Jett, Leta Ford, Pat Benatar; the chicks who rocked the world in the 80's! But great as they were, their time had come and gone. It was time for them to move aside and allow me to take center stage! I didn't want to spend my life covering their songs; I wanted to join them in their fame.

The band took a turn during our senior year when Scott and our Dad had a big fight one night. Jesse and I watched from the top of the stairs as Scott called him a murderer for not being there when our mother died and all kinds of things he would never be able to take back. My dad threw him out of the house and he left. It was the last time we ever saw him.

Jesse wanted to give up the band, but I refused. Tim and I wanted to keep going and we finally got Jesse to agree to hold auditions for a new drummer. After listening to what felt like endless tone deaf, talentless hacks who wouldn't know a beat if it bit them on the ass, even I was getting ready to give up.

But in walked Brad Boedecker. He was six-feet of heavenly goodness. I took one look at his shaggy dark-blond waves, deep green eyes and a body chiseled by Michelangelo and that was it for me. It was love.

When we graduated high school, we all managed to get accepted at University of San Diego. We scored several gigs on campus, frat parties, even a few weddings. But our first break came when we found a regular weekend gig at The Majestic. It wasn't in the greatest part of town, but the crowd was fun and Frank always did right by us.

By the time we reached our sophomore year, Brad and I had found our own apartment. It was a freedom neither one of us had ever experienced and we loved it. We spent our days in school and band practice and our nights wrapped up in every kind of sex known to mankind; some of it our own invention.

When I was twenty-two, Brad and I became engaged. We were so much in love and for the first time in my life the band came second. I still wanted my dream of becoming a rock star, but I was beginning to like the idea of starting a family; just not right away.

But on that last night, two months before the wedding I was getting cold feet. Earlier in the day we had a huge fight. We had gone for a bike ride in Torrey Pines and as usual, we stopped at a secluded location to make love. We were on a rock where I straddled across his lap; my legs wrapped around his waist while trying to keep my screams silent as our bodies came together in a spine shattering climax.

And then we collapsed together embracing before quickly dressing. I turned to him smiling. "Just promise me life will always be like this."

He pulled me in kissing me softly. "Well if you mean finding an out of the way spot for uninhibited, animalistic sex, I can guarantee it." His words made me smile, but then he spoke again. "But if you mean playing in a band to a bunch of drunk college kids and plumbers every week, you can forget it."

I was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

He gave me a pompous laugh. "Common Ally! I mean this has been a fun ride, but sooner or later we have to grow up."

I was livid. "Since when does growing up mean having to give up what you love?"

He picked up his bike. "It doesn't. But it does mean giving up the foolish dreams that will never take us anywhere." He reached over and touched my face. "Ally, you know we will never be the Rolling Stones. All we ever were and ever will be is an 80's cover band; a good one, but not the best band ever."

"Fuck you Brad!" I jerked away from him. "You know what? You're getting to be a pain in the ass just like Jesse!"

"Jesse is a realist and so am I!" He shouted. "You are the only one who has ever had aspirations on making it big. And _you_ probably could. You're hot and you have an amazing voice. But that dream is yours. Jesse wants to run a business. Tim wants to play for a philharmonic orchestra and I want to be a lawyer. If you're going to be my wife, then you need to stop thinking about your own dreams and start thinking about ours."

I could not believe what I was hearing. "So you mean if I am going to marry you I have to become June-Fucking-Clever?"

"Of course not!" He shook his head. "I never want you to stop being you, but I want you to face facts. If we are going to have a family, you need to start thinking less about what you want and start thinking about our children." I will never forget the look in his eyes as he cocked his head sadly. "You do still want to have children, don't you?"

Suddenly the thought of a family made me feel trapped. "You know I do! But not right away! I'm only twenty-two!"

"My mom had me when she was seventeen!" He retorted.

I rolled my eyes and threw back my head. "Oh God! Just shoot me now!"

He turned me around to face him. "Do you even want to get married anymore?" My lack of immediate response drew him to the wrong conclusion. "So now you don't want the life we talked about?"

"No, I want the life _I _talked about with the man I love!" I shouted back at him. "The life _we_ talked about before you became an excruciating bore!"

He threw down his bike glove that he was putting on. "Am I boring because you agreed to marry me and I want a family that the last I checked you wanted too?" His eyes were filled with anger as he grabbed my arm causing it to bruise.

I jerked my arm away. "I did _not_ sign up to suddenly become a broodmare tugging around a bunch of brats! I never said I don't want to have kids; I'm just not ready! I'm way too young!"

As I stood with my back to him, I could hear him whisper behind me. "Just tell me one thing; will a normal life ever be enough for you?"

I closed my eyes with exasperation. "I never said I didn't want normal."

"You didn't have to!" His whisper was filled with disappointment and sadness. "Your eyes say it all."

"Brad…" I tried to reason with him, but he was too angry.

"Forget it Ally!" He mounted his bike angrily. "It's getting late." He turned to me, his eyes and voice overflowing with arrogant cynicism. "We don't want to keep your public waiting!" He pedaled off ahead of me as we began our trek home in uncomfortable silence.

* * *

Later that night as we drove to meet Jesse and Tim at the club barely a word was spoken. I sat in the passenger seat with my arms stubbornly crossed looking out the window. I could occasionally feel his eyes shift towards me, but I refused to meet his gaze.

As we got close to the club he finally broke the silence. "So is this it? One stupid fight after five years and we're finished?"

"No." I told him quietly. "We're not breaking up. I just need to be mad for a while."

As we turned into the parking lot behind the club, he put the car in park then turned to me with a confused glower. "Ok, how long is a little while going to take?"

I got out of the car slamming the door before looking back through the open window. "I'll let you know." I walked away, my boots pounding the pavement as I stomped through the stage door enterence.

As we walked into our dressing room, we were greeted by Jesse and Tim glowering reproachfully at us.

"Well, thank you for gracing us with your presence!" Jesse pointed to his watch. "We've been waiting over an hour. We missed warm up…"

"Do _not_ start with me!" I snarled plopping down at a makeup mirror as Brad flopped into a chair with his back to me.

Tim leaned in whispering to Brad thinking I couldn't hear him. "What crawled up the diva's ass?"

"Who knows!" He shrugged grudgingly. "Maybe the elastic on her panties broke! I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't give a rat's ass!"

"Lover's quarrel?" Jesse sat on the edge of the table.

I gave him an angry scowl. "Even if it was it is none of your damn business!." I grabbed the hot curling iron and began furiously throwing curls into my hair."

He pulled up a chair and sat backwards straddling it. "Ally, I know you better than anybody!" He moved in closer. "And usually when your being a bitch on steroids it means something is really bothering you. So are you going to tell me about it, or are you going to stew in your own juice?"

"Ok fine!" I slammed down my brush. "Brad has his panties in a wad because he wants me to get pregnant the minute he carries me over the threshold. I told him I'm not ready, he told me to grow up, I told him to fuck off." I shifted my eyes toward him as I wound my hair into another curl. "What else would you like to know?"

"I'm sorry Al." He put an arm around my shoulder. After resting my head against him for a moment he lifted my face to look at me. "We can talk about this after the show tonight. But we are on in five minutes. I want to know that you are in a state of mind to put on a show."

"Aren't I always?" I rolled my eyes insolently which irritated him. I took both his hands. "Jesse, I'm a professional. And you know I perform better under angst." I bent my forehead against his. "Have I ever let us down yet?"

My brother smiled warmly then closed his eyes laughing. "Never. Ok, you win."

"Thank you." I smiled as I hugged him.

Frank burst the door. "Well good! You're finally all here! One of these days you're going to give me a heart attack." He glowered at me. "Now finish making yourself gorgeous and get your drama queen ass out there and make me some money!" He shouted.

I only narrowed my eyes at him. "Who in the hell do you think you're talking to! I'm not your wife!"

"Yeah?" He retorted back. "Well if you were you wouldn't be getting away with two-thirds of the shit you give me!"

I gave him a mocking smile as I stood up. "If I were your wife, you wouldn't be getting _nothing_ out of me, cause you'd be sleeping in the garage with the dog!" I started to walk away. "Wait…I take that back! The dog would be sleeping in the house…and YOU would be in the garage with your own sorry ass to keep you warm!"

Frank's nose wrinkled up placing his hands on his hips. Then he burst out laughing as he pulled me into a hug. "Where did you learn to talk smack!" He grinned proudly.

"I learned from the best." I gave him a demure grin. "It's a skill I guess. With the wages you pay us I need all the abilities I can get!"

"Don't worry…a raise is coming." He was lying and he knew it.

"Yeah, well so is Christmas!" Jesse shouted over his shoulder as he put on his cap.

Then he shrugged incredulously. "Do I pay you to stand around and disrespect me, or do I pay you to sing?" Me marched for the door. "No get out there and make my customers happy. You sing good, they drink more! Now get to work!"

"I'm calling your wife and telling her to put your ass in the garage tonight?" I shouted as he walked back through the door.

He peeked his head through the. "Oh yeah? Well from the looks of things I may have some company!" He looked at Brad then walked away laughing gleefully to himself.

For the moment I ignored him and picked up my guitar. "Are we ready?" I asked the guys. They all cheered enthusiastically and ran to the stage just as Frank was introducing us to the audience.

* * *

"Ok everybody! It's time for your favorite part of the night!" The crowd began cheering wildly before he announced us. "Lets give it up for southern California's own…_Caustic Solstice!_"

The crowd went crazy as we took the stage. Brad started the song with three beats of his drum as Tim joined in on base. I broke in with my lead guitar as Jesse ran to the front of the stage working his steel guitar. The girls screamed like he was Elvis.

I took the mike and began to belt out our first song.

_Cant stay at home, cant stay at school  
Old folks say, ya poor little fool  
Down the street I'm the girl next door  
I'm the fox you've been waiting for_

Hello daddy, hello mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb

Stone age love and strange sounds too  
Come on baby let me get to you  
Bad nights causen teenage blues  
Get down ladies you've got nothing to lose

Hello daddy, hello mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb

Hey street boy what's your style  
Your dead end dreams don't make you smile  
I'll give ya something to live for  
Have ya, grab ya til your sore

Hello daddy, hello mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb.

After a set of four tunes, we were pumped, but took our break as per the house rules.

Tim and Jesse put down their guitars and hit the bar where all the girls gathered around them like flies on shit. This would be where Brad and I would sneak off together for some alone time, but after the set was over I saw him throw down his drumsticks and storm off the stage. I decided I needed some air and went outside.

As I walked past our amplifiers, I heard one security guard ask another if he smelled something electrical.

It was these words I hear over and over in my nightmares every time I close my eyes.

But I kept walking.

* * *

I sat on the steps outside the stage door with my arms huddled around my chest to stay warm as the evening fog rolled in.

I had a feeling I wasn't alone as I peered into the shadows. I could have sworn a man stood there watching me, but I could not be sure. Deciding this was not a safe place for a girl to be at night, I stood up to go inside. I could now see the figure in the fog more clearly. He was a tall man wearing a suit. I watched him for a moment before turning around to walk back into the club. I ran smack into Brad.

"What are you doing out here alone?" He asked me angrily. "This isn't the greatest neighborhood."

I turned to look at the figure in the fog again; it had disappeared. "I just came out here to think. Besides, I thought you didn't…" Before I could finish, he handed me a red rose; he gave me a red rose after every show. I tried to play it cool, but inside my heart was slowly melting. I took the rose from him quickly. "Yeah…thanks!" I started to go inside again.

"Ally…" I heard him whisper which stopped me in mid stride. I turned around to look at him as he came closer. "You were right."

"About?" I folded my arms trying to sound angry, but he had me the moment I saw him standing there.

"Everything." He sounded defeated, but adorably sincere. "I was being a pompous ass. I'm sorry."

"You know you're making it difficult to stay mad at you." I raised an eyebrow then smiled. "No, I'm sorry. Maybe I'm the one that's being a jerk."

"I guess we were both being immature." He gave me a half-smile then pulled me in to a soft kiss then pulled back looking me in the eyes. "Ally, nobody says we have to have kids right away. It wasn't fair of me to expect you to start popping out the kids while I work on my own career path. You have every right to pursue your goals."

My heart wanted to dance. "You mean it?"

"Yeah." He whispered. "This has always been your dream. I love you and I am not going to deny you your dreams. I don't want us to be married for twenty years and have you filled with bitterness. You would hate me for denying you the chance to try. You have something amazing, Ally. You have put your heart and soul into this band. You have fought for us. Just because us guys will be ready to move on after graduation doesn't mean you have to."

I threw my arms around his neck. "You may be a pretentious ass sometimes, but I love you." I pulled him in kissing him passionately. "And even if I do make it big, look how many music stars are good parents. Look at Tim and Faith…they have successful careers and they're great parents!"

He furrowed his brow wrinkling his nose. "Yeah, well look at Brittany Spears."

My face fell. "You are seriously not comparing me to that twit." I laughed as he shrugged. "Well I promise if I decide to shave my head it will be for career purposes…I won't have a mental break down."

"I love you." He touched my face softly.

"And I you." We began kissing passionately. Then he pushed me up against a wall reaching up my skirt into my underpants.

My eyes jolted open in pleasured surprise. "What are you doing?"

"We have fifteen minutes." He said breathlessly unbuckling his pants.

"Um, somebody could come out that door…" I tried to protest, but I didn't want him to stop.

"That's the fun part." I felt him push inside me as I let out a moan.

I wrapped my legs around his waist moving my hips with his. He held me up by my buttocks against the brick wall breathlessly thrusting inside of me. "Oh GOD!" I cried out as my moans grew louder. "OH BRAD! OH MY GOD!" I screamed as my felt an orgasm pulsate through my loins.

He finally released as I collapsed against his shoulder. I bent my forehead against his as we recovered.

"I think we need to get back." He whispered as he kissed me softly. "The next set starts in 10 minutes."

"Yeah." I smiled reluctantly. "We don't want them to come looking for us."

We quickly put ourselves back together and walked back inside holding hands.

There is not a moment that goes by that I do not wish I could go back to that fateful moment and hold onto it with all my strength; to scream across time and space telling us to stop and go the other way. If I had known what would happen next I would have grabbed his hand and ran so far away nobody would ever find us.

It is this moment that has played again over and over again in my mind as I lie here in the cement hell they have condemned me to.

* * *

Eleven pm was the last time Caustic Solstice took the stage.

It all began as a fun set. The crowd danced and sang along. We had frat brothers jumping on the stage doing air guitar alongside us. We had a blast.

And then it began.

Nobody saw the amplifiers begin to spark. But before anybody could react the curtains on both sides of the stage caught fire.

"EVERYBODY OUT!" Frank screamed as he began to shuffle everybody out the front door. We tried to run for the back to exit out the stage floor, but the entire area back stage was engulfed in flames. The only way out was through the front door.

I heard a scream come from behind me as I turned to see Tim running around covered in flames. "DROP AND ROLL!" I heard Jesse scream at him. We looked for something to cover him in, but it was too late. He had burned to death.

"Tim!" Jesse cried out to him. "No man! NO!" But we didn't have time to grieve. The crowd was pushing through the front door screaming as the flames got closer.

And then I heard something above my head crack. A large beam was falling down right on top of me. "ALLY!" I heard Brad call out to me. And then he scooped me up in his arms and ran with me toward the front door just before the beam hit me. Jesse lead the way trying to help people get to the door. But there were too many people.

I looked up at Brad who valiantly held me to him to shield me from the flames. "We're going to die." I said tearfully to him.

"No, we're not." He smiled gently wiping the tears from my face. "Don't talk like that. Do you hear the sirens? Those fire trucks are here to help us. They're going to get us out of here."

I smiled up at him believing we were going to be ok. We had a chance.

But just as we were getting close to the exit, a wire cable came falling down from the rafters heading right for us. I was helpless as I watched Brad scream as it sent 10,000 volts through his body.

"NO!" I screamed. "BRAD! OH GOD! NO!"

Jesse tried to pull me away from him, but I ran toward him.

I will never know what made me do it, but I grabbed both ends of the cable. I felt the electricity penetrate me, but I felt no pain. I stood there allowing the electricity to be sucked into my body until the wires were benign again.

"Ally?" Jesse stared at me horror struck. I could feel the electricity inside me. My body was like a live wire.

I needed Brad to assure me that I was ok. But as I turned to look at him, all that was left was his darkened body with smoke drifting from his charred remains. "Brad." I whispered and felt the tears falling. "BRAD!" I screamed as Jesse tried to touch me, but a jolt of electricity sent him flying across the room. "Stay away from me Jesse!" I sobbed. "Everybody stay away!" I shouted as I backed into a metal chair discharging the electricity from me causing another fire. I could not control it as I watched the remaining people inside the door go up in the flames I had sent out. "NO!" I screamed.

And then I saw Jesse run into the fire. I heard him yell as he held out his arms. The fire began to dissipate as Jesse seemed to absorb the flames into him. When it was over he stood there; not a burn or scratch was on him.

All of the remaining patrons, including Frank had parished in the flames. Only Jesse and I had survived. We were frightened; afraid to touch each other.

"What just happened?" His whisper was weak..

I couldn't speak. As I stood there looking at Brad's remains I couldn't not move. I fell to my knees screaming in anguished sobs.

Finally the firefighters broke through the wall. I could hear their horrified shouts seeing all the burnt bodies lying on the floor.

And then there was nothing but silence as Jesse and I walked out the door, completely unscathed. They firefighters backed away from us as the onlookers stared at us shocked.

Two medics ran for us with blankets to cover us. One medic draped a blanket over my shoulders.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Jesse screamed as he backed away. "Everybody get away from me!" He ran off into the back ally. The firefighters tried to run after him, but stopped as they saw a roar of flames rise up above the cement buildings.

"JESSE!" I began to sob. "No…no…NOOOOOOOO!" I screamed.

And then it all went dark.

* * *

"Allison?" I could hear a voice that sounded far away. "Allison, are you waking up?"

I tried to open my eyes, but the light blinded me. I could scarcely make out a shape sitting next to me. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't get the words out.

"Don't try to talk." I could hear the voice say. It was becoming clearer to me that the voice was male. "You have been through a great ordeal. You have been in shock."

"Where…am…" Was all I could say.

"You are in the hospital." His voice was cold, yet firm. "If you can remember what happened to you, blink once for yes, two for no."

As I recalled the horror of that night, I managed to flutter my eyes open once as the tears began to flow.

The tears cleared my eyes. I opened them slowly as everything in the room came into focus. I could finally see the man sitting beside my bed. Even seated, I could tell he was a tall man. He wore a brown suit and framing his steel blue eyes was a pair of horned rimmed glasses.

"Are you a doctor?" I managed to utter a raspy whisper.

"No." He told me coolly. "I am here to talk to you about what happened to you the night of the fire."

The fire. Like a flash of vivid light it all came back to me. "Brad!" I sobbed silently remembering watching powerlessly as he was electrocuted right in front of me.

"It's ok Allison." His voice was firm. "You are safe here."

There was something about his voice that made me uneasy. As my vision came into clear view, I eyed him suspiciously. "Where is my brother?"

"Jesse is fine." He replied composedly. "You will see him soon."

"You're lying." I whispered through my gritted teeth.

He stood up leaning over me. "It is obvious you have been through a terrible shock. Perhaps I should come back later."

"Where is my brother?" I shouted sitting up. I grabbed his shirt nearly strangling him with a force that nearly choked him. "_WHERE IS MY BROTHER?" _I screamed as the machines I was connected to begin to beep loudly. I felt myself growing faint again.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Another man's voice shouted at him. "This room is off limits!"

"It's ok." He told the man handing him something. "I am a friend of her fathers."

"He's lying!" I shouted. "I have never seen this man in my life!"

"You need to leave right now!" The orderly hollered at him. "Either you leave peacefully or I will have security escort you out!"

The man with the horned rimmed glasses did not say a word. He only smiled knowingly and walked slowly out of the room.

The orderly came to my bedside. "Are you ok?" He asked me gently as I nodded softly.

I felt my body growing fatigued again. "How long have I been here?"

"A little over a week." He told me checking my IV.

"Do you know where my brother is?" I asked as my eyes began to close.

"Your brother?" He gave me a dubious stare. "I don't know what you mean."

I began to get angry. "My brother!" I shouted. "His name is Jesse Collins! He and I are twins! Where in the hell is he?"

"I'm sorry miss…but according to your records, you don't have a brother. You are an only child."

"No!" I shook my head agitatedly. "I have a brother! Where in the hell is he?"

"You need to calm down!" He tried to get me to lie down.

"What I need is my brother!" I screamed as I jerked the IV out of my arm and threw a metal tray at him. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BROTHER?"

"What is going on in here?" A woman in a white coat entered the room.

"She's delusional." The orderly told her. "She is asking for her brother."

"What brother?" The doctor looked at my chart then back at me. "Miss Collins, you do not have a brother."

"Yes!" I screamed grabbing her throat. "I do! We were born March 16th, 1983! We have always been together! We even went to college together at USD!"

The doctor cocked her head wrinkling her forehead. "USD? You mean San Diego." Stupid really should hurt.

"Yes!" I shouted exasperated. "Yes! University of San Diego! He was in the fire!"

"Fire?" She shook her head confused.

"Do I have to speak slowly and use small words with you people?" I hissed. "I was injured in the fire at the Majestic Nightclub! Jesse and I were the only survivors!"

"Miss Collins, you were in a plane crash!" The doctor replied firmly as she gave me a shot of something.

I opened my mouth to speak, but there were no words. I wanted to scream, but my voice was gone. What were they doing to me?

But before I could get an answer, I lost consciences.

* * *

"Ally!" I could hear Jesse's voice just above my head. "Ally, you have to wake up!"

My eyes slowly fluttered open. I was never happier to see my brother in my life. "Jesse!" I threw my arms around him.

"We can do this later." He sat up pulling a coat over my shoulders. "We need to get out of here before they get here."

"Who?" I asked barely coherent.

"There's no time to explain right now." He helped me up by my shoulder. "We need to get the hell out of this place."

I did not ask any more questions. He helped me walk out the door and into the corridor where I came to a sudden stop.

"What the hell?" I whispered. Everyone was dead. Burned to death. But it wasn't a hospital; it was more like a movie set. I turned to Jesse horrified. "What did you do?"

He shook his head, clearly horrified by what he had done. "I don't know. They tried to restrain me and it was like fire came out of every pore in my body."

"My God, Jesse!" I began to cry. "What are we?"

"Stop!" Our heads whipped around as two men came toward us. One was the man with the horned rimmed glasses and the other was a slightly older gentleman with graying hair.

"There is nowhere for you to go!" The older man said. "You are not safe out there. You must stay with us for your own protection."

I looked around for something; anything. And then I saw it.

I ran for a nearby electrical box. With my bare hands I somehow was able to rip through its steel door.

"NO!" The man with the glasses shouted as I ripped the wiring out of the box. I tore a large red wire in half. The electricity once again absorbed into my body. The men recoiled in fear as I came toward him. The man with the glasses aimed his gun at me.

"If you shoot her, you will blow this place sky high; us included." The older man told him.

"We can't let them go!" The glasses man retorted. "They created too many questions after the nightclub fire. We can't let them out there running around."

"Either you let us go or I'll fry your ass!" I threatened them.

Before either of them could react, Jesse hit them bother over the head with a piece of thick PVC pipe. They fell to the ground.

"Let's get out of here before he wakes up." Jesse grabbed my hand as we began to fun away.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we ran away.

"As far away from here as possible." He replied as we burst through the double doors escaping into the night.

**END OF CHAPTER 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE  
**Chapter 2 – To Boldly Go

_The Petrelli Townhouse; New York, NY  
__January 23__rd__, 2008_

Angela Petrelli sat cross legged in her parlor sipping thoughtfully on her afternoon tea as she heard the bell ring. "Claire? Are you near the door?" She called out to her granddaughter.

"I'm here." Claire called back to her as she came from the study. She slowly opened the front door. "Dad!" She smiled jumping into Noah Bennet's arms. "I was hoping you would be in town this week!"

"Hey Claire-Bear!" He hugged her tightly. "How's my college girl?"

Though he smiled, Claire could sense her father's apprehension as he continued holding on to her. She pulled back looking up at her father. "Dad? Is everything alright?"

Noah took a hesitant breath, then bristled as he turned to look at somebody behind him.

"Hello Claire."

Claire's smile swiftly faded as every hair on her body stood on end. "Sylar!" She whispered horrifically then turned to her father. "Why in the hell did you bring that pile of shit here?"

He walked through the door. "It's nice to see you too, Claire-Bear."

"Shut up, prick!" She hissed venomously as Sylar laughed amused at her disgust for him. "Don't you ever call me that again!"

They all stiffened as they heard footsteps of low-heeled shoes on the marble floor. "He is here at my calling." Angela came forward to greet them, but first she turned to Claire. "And watch your language my dear. It is not appropriate talk for a lovely young lady who is about to enter the University."

"I'm sorry Grandmother." Claire looked at Angela then back at her father. "But it still does not explain why you have brought him here." She stepped forward looking up at Sylar. "Why do you keep showing up where nobody wants you?"

"It's always a pleasure, Claire." He smirked. "But if you must know your grandmother made me an offer I could not refuse."

Angela placed her hand on Sylar's shoulder. "Gabriel's crimes against humanity have been horrific and brutal…"

"Look who's talking, bitch!" He sneered at her.

Angela stared icily at him, but continued. "…but he also has a lot of talents that can be useful to us…"

"Don't you mean talent's stolen from others…after he killed them?" Claire quipped sardonically.

Angela pressed her lips together, clearly irritated at Claire's insolence before continuing. "You have your reasons for not trusting Gabriel, but as even your father can attest to, he has proven himself quite valuable to us." She turned to look at Claire. "As it stands at the moment, we are being hunted and exterminated by the government. None of us are safe. Gabriel has agreed to come back to work for us."

"Us?" Claire was visibly confused. "I thought the Company died the night of the fire."

"Oh quite the contrary." Angela's lips formed a thin line. "The building was only bricks and mortar. The Company remains as always. Perhaps we do not have a place of operation; and conceivably our objective has changed, but it is still our duty to protect people with special abilities; in these times we are needed even more so."

Bennet stepped forward placing his hands on Claire's shoulders. "You know how I feel about him. And I was angry when Angela teamed me up with him again. But he did save my ass when The Fraternity of Malevolent Freaks took me hostage."

"Yeah!" Sylar leered proudly, then looked over his shoulder at Bennet. "And you're welcome by the way."

"Shut up, asshole! Nobody's talking to you!" Bennet shot back disdainfully as Sylar smirked.

Claire's eyes bore into Sylar skeptically; she hesitated before turning back to Angela. "Ok, fine! I will trust that you all know what you're doing. But if you trust _him_, you are a fool!" She looked up at her father giving him a quick hug. "Just be careful." She whispered into his ear.

"I keep a shard of glass on hand in my briefcase in the event that he gets out of line." He grinned confidently.

Claire smiled up at him slowly. "Yeah…just remember who told you about that." She looked up at Sylar. "Well, I can't remember the last time I have had this much fun, but I have an exam tomorrow I need to study for." She headed for the stairs.

"I'll call you from the road!" Sylar retorted cynically.

"Hopefully it will be from under the tire of an eighteen wheeler!" She sneered before walking up the stairs.

"Ouch!" He chuckled spitefully. "I think your Claire-bear has proven today that she can take care of herself." Sylar snickered as he watched her climb the stairs giving him the finger as she disappeared behind the wall.

"Well, now that that's over with…" Angela led them into the parlor with her.

"Oh look!" Sylar exclaimed with sarcastic excitement. "We're just in time for afternoon tea…I hope you have prepared some of those lovely lady fingers…"

"Oh do shut up!" Angela groaned as Sylar laughed to himself. "You have your first assignment." She pulled a file out of the drawer. "Noah can fill you in on the details; after all, this was his first failure."

Noah opened the file staring at its contents. "The Collins twins. He pulled out their photos. "The girl who wanted to be a rock star and her down to earth brother." He looked at Angela. "Any leads?"

"It's all in the file." Angela told them curtly. "I suggest you get on the road before they flee again. Your flight leaves in an hour. That will be all, gentlemen." She turned and walked out of the room.

Sylar took Ali's photo out of Noah's hand. "Whoa! Come to daddy!"

Noah snatched the photo back. "This is an assignment…not e-Harmony. If you're that hard up to get laid, hire a hooker."

"The last time I got laid I almost got a bullet in my head!" He seethed.

"Oh…" Noah cocked his head with a patronizing scoff. "Are we still mad about your little moment of _coitus interruptus_?"

"You could have let me get in a second round!" He snarled.

"Maybe if you hadn't killed her think of the fuckfest you could have had." He stared coolly at him then grabbed him by the collar. "Listen asshole! I would rather have my colon reamed with a hard bristled toilet brush than to work with you again! But even I have to admit with the right training you can be useful to me. But if you even so much as smile at me wrong…just remember…I know how to kill you and this time I will not fail."

"As if you could." He smiled smugly looking at Noah's hands on his collar. "Now either take your hands off of me or…"

"Or what?" Bennet glared caustically.

He looked up the stairs to where Claire had disappeared to. "Your little girl is almost eighteen…and ripe…and delicious." He grinned superciliously at Noah and shrugged. "Just saying."

Bennet removed his hands with a jerking motion causing Sylar to stumble backwards. "We better hit the road."

"After you…partner." He smirked as he walked past Noah who glowered disdainfully.

"I'm too old for this shit." Bennet muttered under his breath as followed him out the door.

* * *

Excerpt from Ally's Journal

If Jesse and I have learned anything about being on the run, it is that the larger the metropolis, the better you blend in if you don't make waves. But when you are twins with elemental abilities secrecy can be tricky.

After escaping captivity, we first settled in a little town outside of Kingman, Arizona with a population of less than 20,000. We thought a small town would be the ideal hiding place, but after Jesse used his ability to save a damsel in distress in an apartment fire, he became the local hero. He made the paper and a week later the man with the glasses showed up. This time he had a new partner; a tall, bald, black man who never spoke. Before they could get close to us, we stole another car and split.

Now two years and countless cities and towns later, we headed north to Alaska. Except for the twenty-four hour sun (or white nights as the locals call it) in the summer and the long darkness in the winter, the town was good to us. People kept to themselves and nobody asked any questions. The locals knew us as Eric and Hannah Spencer. Jesse grew out his hair adding a full beard and I had dyed my hair a light copper color. As far as the locals knew Jesse was an injured mine worker and I was his sister up from Seattle who came to stay with my brother after my marriage dissolved.

We lived there for almost a year before they found us again.

* * *

Anchorage, Alaska  
January 24th, 2008

Jesse stood over the stove flipping pancakes as Ally stumbled through the front door. He laughed at the sight of her with her disheveled hair and dark circles under her eyes. "Don't say it." She warned him flopping down at the table placing her head in her folded arms.

"Say what?" He shrugged continuing his cooking.

She leaned back laughing bitterly. "Oh, I don't know…something like you could create your own rating index for all the men in Alaska Man magazine….or we're going to have to move to Canada because you've slept with every single man in Alaska. Just cut me some slack, Jess, please!"

Jesse turned off the stove and put down the spatula. He sat down next to her putting his arm around her. "I wasn't going to say a word." He told her gently. She lifted her head and looked up at him. Her lip began to tremble as the tears began to fall again. Jesse reached out putting his arms around her as she began to sob. After a moment, he pulled back gently touching her face. "Ally, it's been over two years. I never expected you to bounce right back, but you have allowed this to consume you. You have got to find a way to let him go."

"I can't." She sniffled wiping her tears away. "Every night when I go to sleep I see his face. I remember our last moments together and then I see his charred body. "Why couldn't I…"

"Because you aren't God." He told her sternly looking into her eyes. "How could you have known that you could absorb electricity? You couldn't…just like there was no way of knowing I could absorb and dispel elements. We didn't know because the circumstances did not present themselves until that moment. You can't blame yourself Ally and neither can I."

She closed her eyes taking a deep breath to regain composure. "But what was the point of it all? Did we save anybody's lives? No Jesse; we didn't! Everybody in that fire died, except for the few that made it through the door before the place started falling apart! So what's the use of having what you keep calling a gift if you can't use it to help people?"

"I don't know how to answer that, Al." He shook his head sorrowfully. "But we can't go back and change the past. It is just a cold hard reality we are going to have to live with." He held onto her hands. "We have to move on."

Ally stood up in a rage shoving her chair across the room. "I don't want to move on!" She shouted. "I want my life back!

"It doesn't work that way!" Jesse shouted back. "Life is short and you don't get your money back! Brad loved you! He died trying to save your life. You were everything to him and he would want you to be happy. What do you think he would say if he saw the way you stay out all night drinking and going home with men you barely know? You can sleep with every man in the state, but you're not going to find him again. You think I don't see the way you stand behind the bar every night searching the faces in the crowd? You aren't looking for Mr. Right Now…you're looking for Brad!"

Ally folded her arms glaring insolently at him. "Are you finished? Because this is really boring and all I want to do right now is throw down some breakfast and crawl into bed."

"And then what?" He continued to berate her. "Curl up in a fetal position in a drunken stupor just so you can do it all again tonight?" Ally folded her arms across her chest and turned away from him crying silently. Jesse stood up and slowly went to her placing his hands on her shoulders. Ally turned to him sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. He stood holding her for several minutes until her crying subsided. She finally looked up wiping her eyes as Jesse touched the side of her face. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so harsh. It's just that you're my sister and I love you. You're all I have now and I hate seeing you doing this to yourself."

"I know." She whispered as Jesse handed her a Kleenex which she took appreciatively. "I know your right and I hate what I have allowed myself to become. I need to let go and get past this; but I don't know how."

Jesse smiled down at her. "You wake up in the morning. You decide today is going to be the day you start living again. At first you'll cry…you'll get angry at yourself for feeling like you let yourself down; but you'll get over it. And you do it again the next day…and the next until one morning you wake up and you make it through the whole day without shedding a tear. Then you know you have made it to the other side of this. And that is when you will stop being angry for missing out on the life you planned and embrace the one you have been given instead."

Ally stared at him shaking her head. "That has _got_ to be…the corniest thing that has ever come out of your mouth!"

Jesse shrugged laughing. "What can I say? I'm a walking Blue Mountain card." He touched her on the nose making her smile. His eyes grew serious again. "You aren't only my sister, Ally; you're my best friend. We will probably never see Scott again and dad's body was never found. We are it."

"I know." She sighed reflectively. "I could use Mom's shoulder about now."

Jesse pointed to his shoulder. "Will mine do?"

Ally laughed taking her fingers and wiping tears from under her eyes. "I think I'm wearing yours out. Don't you ever get tired of me stepping all over you and hogging all the space?"

"Nah." He shook his head wrinkling his nose. "Life would have been awfully boring without you." He tousled her hair as she giggled. "Now am I going to have to eat all these pancakes all by myself?" He stood up walking back to the stove.

She cocked her head raising an eyebrow. "Got any clover honey?"

"Of course." He reached into the cupboard tossing the jar at her.

"Then I'm all over it." She jumped up and rain to grab some plates.

As they stood side by side getting breakfast together, they looked at each other and smiled softly. "We're going to make it, Ally." He squeezed her hand as she rested her head against his shoulder.

* * *

_Anchorage, Alaska  
January 24, 2008_

"I've never been so fucking cold in my life!" Sylar huddled inside his trench coat as Bennet parked the SUV. "We couldn't be tracking down specials in Miami or something!"

Bennet gritted his teeth irritably. "Just be grateful that you are gainfully employed and not in a cement slab under the ocean!"

"Ouch!" Sylar winced taken aback. "That's barbarically brutal! Even for you!"

He rolled his eyes petulantly as he studied his tazer. "I have listened to you do nothing but bitch about the cold since we got here. For a serial killer with ice water in his veins you are nothing but a big sissy boy, are you?"

"Says the man with a trunk full of teddy bears." Sylar snickered as Bennet seethed.

"I told you they were for Claire!" He hissed.

"And I still say you are protesting too much."

He banged his fists on the steering wheel in frustration. "Oh just shut the fuck up already!"

Sylar sat up abruptly tapping Bennet quickly on the shoulder. "There she is." Bennet pulled out his binoculars and watched as Ally came out the back of the tavern unlocking the basement door and going inside. "Should we go after her?"

Bennet shook his head. "Not yet. We want to catch her off guard. If we follow her into the basement she will put up a fight; we don't want that."

"Than what do you propose we do?" Sylar took the binoculars from him as Ally came out of the basement carrying two cases of beer.

Bennet turned to him with an arrogant glare. "Well this is the part where you get to prove how useful you can be."

Sylar narrowed his eyes skeptically. "You want me to apprehend her?"

"No." Bennet stared at him grinning coolly. "You have been telling me for the last 5000 miles how much you would like to get in that girl's pants. Now put your money where your mouth is." He handed him a small overnight bag. "I want you to seduce her."

He nearly coughed on the coke he was drinking. "_What_?" He grabbed the bag still looking at Bennet taken aback.

"I'm giving you a chance to use that pretty face and silver tongue of yours." Bennet replied composedly.

"You just want me to walk up to a strange girl and lure her into the sack?" He laughed incredulously. "Is this in the company handbook? Does our major medical cover against STD's"

Bennet began to laugh boisterously. "So you're all talk and no action. I should have guessed."

Sylar rolled his eyes. "I never said I can't get a woman into bed, I'm just not prepared."

Bennet patted his shoulder. "All you have to do is walk in there and try not to puke all over yourself…and just let nature take it's course."

Sylar held up the overnight bag. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Bennet took a bite of his sandwich. "A change of clothes. If you walk into a neighborhood tavern wearing company issued Armani, it's all over with. You need to blend in."

"Blend in?" He asked opening the bag apprehensively. "What did you pack in here? A lumberjack suit?"

Bennet grinned smugly.

* * *

"Are you shitting me?" Ally grimaced at the mason jar sitting on the mahogany bar. "Is that a real toe?"

"Real as your pretty face." Jake the bar owner grinned touching her nose as he shook the bottle. "This toe is over one-hundred years old. My great granddaddy got it off the foot of a frostbitten miner in 1896 during the Klondike Gold Rush. It has been in this bar ever since."

Ally went back to making drinks as Jake removed the toe from the jar placing it into a shot glass. He then filled the glass with tequila and placed in front of a man sitting at the bar.

Jake rang the ship bell as the patrons stopped talking. "Ok people…listen up! This brave man at the bar named…" He leaned in whispering to him. "What's your name?"

"Carl." The man replied.

"…Carl is going to become Alaska's newest Sour-toe!

The crowd cheered wildly as Ally rolled her eyes at Maggie the bar waitress. "So other than hepatitis A, what exactly do they get out of doing this?"

"Your name and photo immortalized on our wall of fame and bragging rights for life." She chuckled as she watched the men chat _Carl! Carl! Carl! _

"Whatever." Ally wrinkled her nose and shuddered as she watched Carl slam down the shot, the spit out the toe to the cheers of the other patrons.

"Don't knock til you try it, girl." She laughed. "It ain't half bad."

"Really?" She furrowed her brow. "How many shots did they pump into you before you tried it?"

Maggie leaned into her looking her in the eye. "Which time?" She broke out laughing as did Jake and several patrons.

Ally shook her head and punched some numbers into the cash register. "Sorry I asked."

"Hey Eric!" One of the patrons called out. "How bout a poem?" The rest of the regulars chanted with encouragement as Jesse smiled and stood on the bar holding a beer mug in his hand.

_Our beer  
Which art in bottles  
Hallowed be thy sport  
Thy will be drunk  
I will be drunk  
At home as I am in the pub  
Give us each day our daily schooners  
And forgive us our spillage  
As we forgive those who spillest against us  
And lead us not into the practice of poofy wine tasting  
And deliver us from Tequila  
For mine is the bitter  
The chicks and the footy  
Forever and ever  
Barmen _

The crowd cheered as Jesse held up his beer mug taking a giant sip. Then he held out his arms and dove into the crowd as they passed him around the bar.

Ally smiled as she watched him shaking her head as she continued mixing drinks. Maggie giggled loading up her serving tray watching as Jesse grabbed a girl kissing her with passion before jumping back over the bar.

"Your brother missed his calling." She smiled. "He knows how to please a crowd. He should have been a politician."

Ally sighed to herself watching Jesse take it all in. "Yeah. Coulda, woulda, shoulda."

The door opened sending yet another blast of bitter arctic cold air through the tavern. Maggie nodded toward the door. "Hotness at eleven o'clock!"

Ally turned around where a tall man stood cupping his hands over his mouth breathing into them to warm up. When he took his hands away from his face, she smiled slowly. He was handsome with dark, intense features. He wore faded 501's, a plaid flannel shirt under a black down vest and a Pittsburgh Steelers cap over his dark hair.

She turned back to Maggie holding her hand out in a fist. "Rock, paper, scissors you for him?"

Maggie shook her head. "Nah, you go ahead. He's a little young for me. And…" She nodded motioning toward him. "…he's got eyes for you already."

Ally looked straight ahead pretending not to notice him. "Is he looking right now?"

"He hasn't taken his eyes off of you since he walked in here." She giggled.

Before she could respond Jesse called out to her irritably. "Hey Hanna!" She turned to him as he pointed to the bar patrons. "We have thirsty customers! I could use some help!"

"Coming!" She sighed crossly. "Keep your shirt on little brother!" She shouted sauntering her way down the bar to a group of collage age boys. She leaned across the bar intently showing off her cleavage. "Are you bad boys feeling thirst tonight?"

"Oh hell yeah!" One of them nodded quickly, visibly ogling her. "Classes started again this week. It's brutal! We need courage."

"Amber courage…we got that here." She smiled slowly brushing her hair away from her face. "But first…" She held out her hand snapping her fingers impatiently. "…let's see em."

Three of them reached into their wallets pulling out their ID's while the other boy looked a little nervous. Ally quickly flipped through them. "Ok Jason…your good." She handed his ID back. "Mike…" She looked at the picture than back at him. "…looking fine. Ben…your ok. Nick…" She looked at the picture then cocked her head skeptically. "…age 34?" She handed his ID back to him. "Try again in fifteen years."

"How did that get in there?" He faked surprise as he searched his pockets. "Wait! My real ones here someplace."

"Uh huh…" She smiled sarcastically as she watched him frantically look through his wallet.

"Ok…here's the thing…" He began as Ally looked to Jake and Maggie rolling her eyes. "This is my uncle's wallet! He must have mine!" He stepped up closer to her. "Look, I just want to have a few beers with my buddies. Can't you let me have a few beers tonight and tomorrow I'll come back with my uncle and we'll get this all straightened around. Do we have a deal?"

Ally looked at the boy, back at the ID then up at him again. "What's your uncle's name and address?"

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Um…excuse me?"

"Your uncle?" She smiled waving the ID at him. "You know…the one that is such a pal you can't keep your wallets straight?"

The boy began to get angry. "Look, I just want a drink! Why do you care about my uncle's business?"

She pressed the ID against his chest. "Because this is your picture glued over a drivers license of a 34 year old African-American female!" She peeled the fake picture off. "I've seen botched boob-jobs that look more realistic."

"Nick…she's got you by the balls." The one named Mike called to him. "Let's get out of here."

"No!" He shouted. "I came here for a drink and I'm not leaving until I get one!" He turned to Ally again. "Now give me a drink, bitch!"

Somebody grabbed the boy's arm. He turned around startled to find the tall dark-haired man glaring angrily at him. Something about his dark eyes made him feel uneasy. "You heard the lady." The stranger sneered at the boy. "She said no ID, no drink! Now why don't you be a good little boy and go to the Chuck E. Cheese down the street."

The patron's began to laugh as the boy tensed up. "I want a drink!" He hollered belligerently above the laughter. "What does a guy have to do to get a drink in this town?"

Ally shrugged and turned to Jesse behind the bar. "You heard the man!" She smiled giving him a wink. "Let's give him a drink."

"Coming right up." Jesse replied as he took the water dispenser spraying him with it. Everyone laughed including his friends as the boy began to sputter angrily.

"Oh Dude!" Ben laughed uncontrollably. "You have been _SERVED_!"

"Ok Nick!" The one named Jason continued to laugh wiping his eyes. "I think you've made enough of an ass of yourself for one night. Let's go." He turned to Ally. "I'm sorry…he's my brother. I only brought him because his car has snow tires."

"It's ok." She laughed softly and turned to Nick. "No harm, no foul."

Jake came up behind her placing a hand on her shoulder. "You are more than welcome to come back when your twenty-one, but until then, please stay out of my bar."

He turned to his friends. "Ok fine!" He shouted. "We've been kicked out of better places than this!"

"Probably with that fake ID!" Jake called after him as the patrons laughed raucously.

The dark-haired man watched Ally smiling approvingly as she hoisted herself upon the bar then spinning around on her buttocks then sliding off on the other side. She wore a pair of faded blue jeans with a hint of a pink thong peeking out the back over a pair of black high-heeled ankle boots and a white cropped tank top that showed just enough of her breasts that made him want to see more. As she noticed him eying her she smiled flirtatiously; an occurrence that did not go unnoticed by Jesse.

"_No!_" He gave her an exasperated glower as he cut up some limes.

"Oh common!" She implored him putting some ice in a blender. "Look at him! He's…"

"A long, tall, dark and handsome drink of beautiful water." Maggie sighed as she and Ally high-fived each other.

"What she said." Ally smiled up at Jesse who rolled his eyes.

Jesse turned to Maggie. "Can I talk to my sister in private please?"

"Be my guest." She retorted as she loaded up her serving tray with drinks brushing her red curls away from her face. "Far be it from me to stand in the way of a family quarrel." She walked away taking her drinks.

"Well that was rude!" Ally glared at her brother.

"I'll apologize later." He bore into her sternly. "But you said just this morning that you were going to stop looking for Brad in every man you see." He motioned to him. "This one isn't him either."

Ally leaned her elbows back against the bar. "I know. But I can't explain it. There's just something about his eyes that makes me feel alive again."

Jesse studied the man who casually leaned back on the barstool munching on nuts while sipping his beer. "I guess he looks harmless enough…I just don't recall seeing him around here before." He looked back at Ally. "Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?"

"I will if you will." She smiled slyly as she watched the girl he had kissed earlier at the other end of the bar smiling at him.

"What can I say?" He grinned proudly. "The Collins twins have hotness in their genes."

Ally glared furiously at him. "The _Spencer_ twins!" She kept her voice low looking around to see if anybody noticed, but the music drowned them out. "Don't get careless on me now!"

Jesse rolled his eyes exhaling. "Shit! That was stupid! I'm sorry."

Ally shook her head. "If they find us, they find us…but let's not let stupidity be the reason." She walked away as Jesse eyed her worriedly.

Ally smiled as she approached the man. She opened up a new package of nuts and slowly poured it into the bowl he was eating from. "So is this the part of the story where I swoon and call you _my hero_?"

He looked at her then laughed softly. "I'm no hero…I just can't resist a damsel in distress…especially such a beautiful one."

"Thanks." She almost purred as she leaned across the bar. "And I can't resist a thirsty customer; especially such a tall, dark and appetizing one." She leaned in closer. "So what can I get for you?"

He moved in so they were just inches from each other. "I thought I would try the orgasm."

Ally smiled knowingly. "How many would you like?"

"Wouldn't that question be better suited for you?" He slowly raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a multiples kind of girl." She almost whispered. "But I can also do a wicked screamer."

"Then I'll try the screaming orgasm." He murmured softly.

She pulled back slowly not taking her eyes off of him as she began to mix his drink. "Are you new in town? I haven't seen you here before." She reached down grabbing a shaker. "I would have remembered you."

He watched as she skillfully grabbed bottles and tossed them before catching them in mid spin. "No, just passing through."

She took a bottle of white creme de cacao and tossed it behind her back catching it with the other hand before pouring into a shot glass. "Business, or pleasure?" She looked up long enough see his reaction.

"Business." He replied watching her empty the ingredients into a shaker. "But I'm hoping to mix in some pleasure."

"Jesse! Throw me the vodka!" She shouted.

"Coming right up!" He grabbed a bottle juggling it before tossing it to her in a spiral. She caught it with a flourish as the crowd cheered.

"Show off." He teased grinning slowly.

Ally laughed. "It's a skill." She poured the vodka into the shaker then shook it in a circular motion above her head before pouring it into a tall glass and sticking a straw into it. "One screaming orgasm with extra creame." He gave a laugh as he took a sip. "So what do you think?" She prodded him.

"I'm thinking if the drink is this good…the real thing has got to be unbelievable." He reached out running his fingers alongside her face. "So that brings me to my next question…" He leaned in brushing his lips across hers. "What time to you get off?" They began to kiss softly.

"I'll go clock out right now." She whispered kissing him once more before reluctantly breaking away.

He watched her walk away looking over her shoulder before stopping to high-five the red-headed waitress.

Sylar leaned back on his bar stool watching her cash out her tips at the register. His phone began to ring. "What!" He barked angrily into the receiver.

"It's a good thing I packed extra condoms in your bag." Bennet spoke in a controlled whisper form his corner in the bar. "I could feel the heat from over here."

"Have you been spying on me?" He retorted venomously.

"Let's call it a performance review." Bennet quipped. "Just remember she is an assignment…"

"You think I don't know that?" He hissed into the phone.

He could see Bennet's blue steel eyes piercing him from across the room. "I just want you to remember that tomorrow morning when it's time to take her in."

"You just take care of the brother and I'll have the pretty sister ready to go. I'll even pack her bags. " He looked up to see her make her way through the crowd back to him. He smiled hanging up his phone.

She grabbed his hand leading him toward the door. "Are you ready?"

He smiled slowly looking down at her. "Are you?"

She lead him out the door passing her brother on the way. "Don't hurry home." She whispered to him as Jesse watched her leave with a troubled look in his eye.

_To be continued…._


	3. Chapter 3

**THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE  
**Chapter 3 – Attrapé

The apartment door burst open as Ally pulled Sylar inside with her arms wrapped around his neck. He pressed her up against the wall kissing with tearing passion. "Do you live here alone?" He asked breathlessly nibbling on her ear.

"No, my brother and I live here." She replied bending her neck backwards. "He always closes the place or goes home with the flavor of the night, so he won't be home until much later."

"Good." He covered her mouth with his lips. "Because we won't be getting any sleep until much later." They continued kissing as they tore each other's clothes off. Once they were naked he lifted her up by her buttocks as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "Where's your bed?"

"Second door on the left." She replied breathlessly biting into his shoulder.

Ally let out a breathless whimper as he entered her while carrying her to the bed. When he reached the bed he laid her down, staying on top of her as they began to move their bodies in rhythm with each other. "Oh my GOD!" She cried out. "Oh GOD! Don't you dare stop!" She felt her walls began to stiffen with each thrust.

"You like that?" He asked nearly grunting as he spoke. "You want more?"

"Oh GOD YES!" Ally arched her back moaning loudly as she clutched the headboard behind her.

He began to thrust harder inside of her as her moans grew louder; their bodies moving faster reaching a climax. He could feel her muscles tightening as she began to orgasm; her nails digging into his arms as he began to pound harder. And then he could feel her body shudder beneath him as she threw her head back against the pillows in cries of coitus rapture.

After releasing inside of her, he finally collapsed against her breathing profusely as she stroked his hair, and then rolled onto his back. He lay there for a moment as he gasped loudly attempting to catch his breath.

Ally rolled onto her side propping herself up on her elbow as he slowly pushed her perspiration-soaked hair away from her face. "Oh my GOD that was amazing!" She whispered hoarsely still breathing heavily.

He nodded in agreement placing an arm on her back pulling her into him. She laid her head against his chest as he gently stroked her hair. He turned onto his side looking at her face as he glided his fingers up and down her arm. "I just had the most unbelievable fuck I have ever had in my life…" He kissed her softly then stroked her face. "…and I don't even know your name."

"Hannah." Ally frowned unseen by Sylar. "Hannah Spencer." He chuckled softly causing her to lift her head to look at him. "Um…do you find something humorous about my name?"

"No." He whispered kissing her forehead. "It just sounds a little plain. I expected a girl that looks like you to be called something more exotic."

"Like what?" She giggled running her fingers from his chest to his belly button. "Jacquline Goodhead?"

He turned onto his back laughing heartily. "Or Pussy Galore…"

She rolled over so she was lying across his chest. "Ok…so now you know my name." She slowly traced his bow-shaped lips. "Are you going to tell me your's, or are you going to remain the handsome, mysterious stranger who swept me off my feet forever?"

He smiled slowly, his eyes gleaming malevolently. "I'm Alex." He held out his hand to her. "Nice to meet you." She laughed shaking his hand.

"And do I have to guess your last name?" She tilted her head coyly.

"You mean I can't keep anything mysterious about myself?" He raised a mysterious eyebrow. "Does this mean you want to see me again?"

"I don't know." She shook her head blinking thoughtfully. "I haven't had a serious boyfriend since…" She closed her eyes quickly changing direction. "Since my divorce. I have trust issues I guess."

Unseen by Ally he smiled malevolently. "It has been said that to be trusted is a greater complement than being loved." He took a strand of her hair tugging at it gently.

She flopped onto her back. "Yeah, well it has also been said that once trust is broken it is like a vase; it can be repaired, but it will never be the same again." She quickly stood up putting on her robe.

"Did I say something wrong?" He sat up slowly watching her.

She shook her head half-smiling. "No." She tied her robe slowly. "I think I have just said too much. I've known you for maybe an hour and here I am telling you my life story."

He stood up walking to her. "If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't have asked."

She laughed softly folding her arms across her chest. "You seem like a nice guy. But the truth is that I am not in a position where I am able give out too much information about myself; and I've already told you more than I should have."

"Then how about if we don't talk anymore?" He bent down to kiss her, but he was taken aback when Ally abruptly pulled away.

"Maybe you should go." She whispered heading for the door. "I really need to get some sleep and my brother…"

"I don't think I want to." He said softly making her stop talking. She turned around slowly eying him skeptically as he walked closer to her. "I know I just met you, but there is something about you. I like being around you. Not only are you beautiful and a damn fine lay…" Ally lowered head laughing softly. "…but there is something about you that is sad; it's like on the outside you are tough. You talk a big game, but on the inside I can see you are fragile, frightened and maybe you are looking for love again." He gently touched her face. "Even if it is just for one night and I never see you again I just want to hold you and take your pain away."

Ally looked up at him for a moment clearly moved by his words. He took her hand walking her back to the bed. She looked up at him and slid her hands up his bare chest as they began to kiss softly, then with growing intensity. He gently removed her robe letting it fall to the floor. They continued to kiss as the fell together on the bed. She pulled back for a moment smiling softly as she looked into his eyes. "We can sleep later." She whispered as she pulled him back into a passionate kiss and then pulling him on top of her. "_Much_ later." She gasped with pleasure as his fingers began to explore between her legs.

Sylar smiled to himself malignly.

* * *

"That's $300 each." Jake grinned cheerfully as he handed Jesse and Maggie each a stack of bills. "And here is Hannah's share." He gave Jesse a second stack which he placed in his wallet alongside his.

"Thanks." Jesse gave a grateful nod. "I'll make sure she gets it."

"Well pardon me for saying so, but I think your sister went home with her prize." Maggie smiled at Jesse. "Did you see that piece of art she left here with?"

"Yeah, I saw." Jess grumbled irritably as he stood up grabbing their beer bottles and tossing them into the garbage in such a matter that they shattered.

Jake and Maggie looked at each other. "Well, if it is any comfort at all, this one didn't look like a total loser." Maggie offered.

Jesse angrily flung a beer bottle against the wall. "Well you know what? I wish he _did_ look like a loser! Because Ally can take on a loser! So tonight she goes home with some Joe Blow walking in here from God knows where…"

"Eric?" Jake interrupted him. "Did you just call your sister…_Ally_?"

Jesse looked like he had been caught in the headlights. "Oh…did I say Ally? Well, Ally is a friend of hers from the states. They were inseparable when they were kids. I get their names confused sometimes."

Jake nodded compliantly. "Ok." He stood up stretching. "Well, I got work to do and you kids need to get home. Lock up before you leave." He stumbled toward his office in the back.

"Nite Jake." Maggie stood up grabbing her purse. Before leaving she turned to Jesse. "You got this?" She pointed to the partially cleaned bar.

He nodded casually. "Yeah, I'm good. Are you going to be ok getting home? It's pretty dark and icy out there."

"It is always dark and icy out there…even in the middle of the day." She laughed slowly. "I just live across the street. I'll be fine. Good night Eric."

"Nite Maggie." He laughed softly as she walked through the door.

Unbeknownst to her, she passed a man standing in the shadows; the moonlight hitting the corner of his horned rimmed glasses.

* * *

Jake slowly walked into the 10x10 space that had been his office since he opened the tavern almost twenty-five years ago. For a moment he leaned against the doorframe smiling to himself affectionately watching Jesse energetically tossing bottles and wiping down tables and counters. Then sighing heavily he closed the door behind him and sat behind the mahogany desk where he took a deep breath and rested his head on top of his folded hands.

After a moment he sat back in deep thought. Taking a deep breath he opened his desk drawer where he removed a folded piece of wrinkled paper.

He closed his eyes then opened them staring at the large print at the top that read **MISSING!**

Underneath the large letters were photos of Ally and Jesse and a phone number to call.

"What are you kids running away from?" He whispered aloud staring at the photos worriedly before returning the paper to his drawer.

* * *

The clanging of the ship bell on the tavern door made Jesse look up from his work. "I'm sorry, we're closed." He called out barely able to see the man standing in the corner.

"I can assure you, I am not here for refreshment." There was something about his voice that made Jesse stop his work abruptly. He slowly raised his head staring as he heard the man's footsteps coming toward him.

"Who in the hell are you?" Jesse asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you could call me an old friend of the family." He replied coolly stepping into the light. .

"You!" He hissed grabbing a beer bottle and breaking it against the bar. "Stay back! Don't come near me!"

"Jesse, I don't want to hurt you." Jesse could see his gun as he held up his hands.

"Then what do you need that for?" He shouted motioning to the gun.

His lips formed a thin line. "Protection. After all, I am but a simple mortal. I do not have abilities like you and your sister."

"What do you want from us?" Jesse carefully placed his hand in the sink where the bar glasses were soaking.

"We just want to talk to you." He told him calmly.

Jesse laughed cynically. "Yeah…you just want to talk to us. Is that why you separated my sister and I? Is that why you locked us up and tried to convince us that the other didn't exist? What the fuck was that?"

"That was a different world than the one we live in now, Jesse." He replied. "Back then we wanted to study the two of you. But now…"

Before he could continue Jesse threw out his hand as water rushed from it like a high powered hose. Bennet leapt out of its path before the water could hit him. "You are going to soon find out that was not necessary!" Bennet shouted. He looked up, but Jesse had disappeared from sight. "I know you are angry, and perhaps frightened, but you are not in any danger." He walked around the tavern looking behind tables. "My partner and I are only here to talk to you."

"Partner?" Jesse stepped out from his hiding place behind Jake's office looking around the tavern. "Where is your partner?" He retorted doubtfully.

The corners of Bennet's mouth turned up slowly. "It really is tragic night after night the way your sister tries to mend her broken heart in the arms of a stranger."

Jesse's face grew white as the reality hit him. "The guy who helped her with those college boys…she left with him." He closed his eyes taking a deep, anguished breath.

Bennet gave a satirical chuckle. "Isn't it ironic how you kept telling her that one night she was going to sleep with the wrong man?" He started to run out of the bar but Bennet revealed his stun gun. "I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere."

Jesse came to a sudden stop. He held up his hands then began laughing caustically. "Just want to talk. What a crock of shit!"

"I have a full round of ammo and a taser." He held them both up cockily. "You're outnumbered, Jesse. Do you really think you want to take a chance at seeing how far I will go to take you into custody?"

To Jesse's amazement, he watched Bennet's head jerk back then plummet to the floor cold. He looked down at Bennet then quickly cranked his head up blinking his eyes in astonishment to see Jake standing there holding his shot gun.

"I reckon he'll be out for a while." Jake told him confidently. "But men like that don't stay down for long though."

"What did you do?" Jesse whispered in astonishment.

"Oh, I just introduced him to the groping end of my girl Lizzy here." He chuckled pointing to the handle of his rifle. "I only bought you some time. He's gonna wake up and he'll be as pissed off as a hungry moose. You need to get your sister and get out of here."

Jesse shook his head incredulously. "Jake, there's something I need to tell you…"

Jake held up the missing poster as Jesse's eyes widened in shock. "I've known about you for months. The last time I flew down to Seattle for supplies I came upon this here poster on a bulletin board in a grocery store."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Jesse asked him softly.

Jake placed a protective hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Because I figured if you wanted me to know your business, you would have told me." He placed his hands on his hips. "You and your sister are good kids and you're hard workers. I reckon if you were bad people you would have committed your crimes weeks ago."

"Thanks Jake." Jesse half-smiled earnestly.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. "I took this out of my safe." He placed it into his hand. "It's not much, but it's enough for you to get a good head start and maybe a room and meals for a few days." He handed him a set of keys. "I have an old truck out back. It's almost as old as I am, but it runs and the heater works."

Jesse shook his head contritely. "Jake, I can't take your money! And your truck…I thought that was your fathers!"

"Don't worry bout me boy." He laughed gently. "This here establishment brings in a pretty good profit. And yeah…my daddy gave me that truck. He passed it on down to me…and now I'm passing it on to you."

"I don't even know what to say." He whispered overwhelmed by his generosity. "When this is all over and done with I'll be back. And I'm going to make right by you."

"You already have." He smiled sadly as he pulled him into a quick clinch. "Now you're gonna want to get out of here." He looked down at Bennet. "I can hold him off for a little while, but he won't stay down without a fight and I ain't gonna be the one to rattle his cage."

"I'll never forget this." Jesse smiled gratefully. "And I'll never forget you."

"See that you don't!" Jake chuckled as Jesse embraced him once more than ran out the door.

* * *

"Oh GOD! She screamed as he bent her over the bathroom counter pushing in and out of her bringing them both to a climax. He bent his head backward smiling in ecstasy with closed eyes relaxing. He stood there for a moment as he caught his breath.

Ally stood up then turned around slowly facing him. "What does a girl have to do around here to take a shower without being sexually assaulted?" She leaned into him kissing him softly.

He eyed her up and down. "Well running around naked in front of me with that red hot body of yours does not help your circumstances at all." He replied breathlessly as he pulled her into an embrace. "When I was told I was going to Alaska, I expected to find myself amongst the company of a bunch polar bears and Eskimos; not spending the night in the throws of ravenous, vertebrae crushing monkey sex with a beautiful woman."

"Well, there's still time if that's what you came here for." She playfully headed for the door as he pulled her back to him kissing her again. She smiled up at him softly. "So how long are you going to be in town?"

"Just a few days…tops." He pulled his jeans back on and started looking around the bathroom for something.

Ally furrowed her brow curiously. "What are you looking for?"

He looked in the mirror stroking the thick stubble on his chin. "I could use a shave and all my stuff is back at the hotel. I wondered if your brother would mind if I used one of his razors."

She opened a medicine cabinet revealing a bag of disposable razors and shaving cream. "Knock yourself out. I use his stuff all the time to shave my legs. I doubt he'd even notice."

"Thanks." He grinned taking a razor and the shaving cream out of the cabinet as she headed into the bedroom to get dressed. Ally picked up the phone dialing a number.

"Who are you calling?" He called out to her as he spread the shaving cream on his face.

"My brother." She shouted back pulling on a sweatshirt over her jeans. "I didn't hear him come in last night. He usually stays out late, but it's not like him to not call if it's going to be an all-nighter."

"Maybe he was tied up…" He peeked out the bathroom door. "…literally." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Ally frowned shaking her head as she hung up the phone. "No, I'm the kinky one in the family."

"So I gathered." Sylar laughed continuing to shave which caused him to slice into the side of his cheek. "OH FUCK!" He shouted quickly rinsing the shaving cream off his face.

Ally ran into the bathroom. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine, I just cut myself." He tried to shield his face from her as the blood began to spill out from the cut.

"You're not fine. Not with that much blood." She went to the medicine cabinet taking out some ointment and Band-Aids. "You are probably going to want stop by the Emergency room…"

She turned around and dropped the bandages as she saw the gash on his face heal itself.

Sylar sighed shaking his head sadly. "I wish you hadn't seen that."

"What are you?" She backed away slowly staring at him horrified. "What in the hell was that?"

He closed his eyes shaking his head. "And we were getting along so well. But, since you unfortunately saw my little healing trick, the fun is over. Dammit! And I was gearing up for round four!" He cocked his head wrinkling his nose. "Your timing really sucks!"

"You're one of them!" She whispered venomously. "So all of this…everything you said to me…it was all a lie to confine me?"

"Ally…" He held up his hands walking toward her.

"Get away from me!" She shouted. "This was all a trick to get to Jesse and me." Her face dropped. "Oh God! Jesse!" She cried out horrified. "Where is my brother?" She began slapping him repeatedly. "What did you do to him?"

He grabbed her hands shaking his head at her. "That really is terribly annoying." He laughed as Ally struggled to break free.

"Just tell me where he is!" She sneered.

He let go of her hands. "I don't know." He shrugged. "But he is likely in the custody of my partner."

"You sick piece of shit!" She whispered venomously. "What in the fuck are you?"

Sylar laughed spitefully. "Permit me to introduce myself." He bowed to her as Ally rolled her eyes impatiently. "I am the best of the best; the most powerful of all; the…"

"Ok!" She shouted with annoyance. "You're good! Apparently _REAL_ good! I get it! All I want is a name…_ALEX_! I highly _doubt_ this is your real name."

He smiled coolly. "Right you are, pretty lady!" He walked toward her. "My name is Sylar."

"Sylar!" She laughed caustically. "Did your parents hate you or something?"

He clasped his hand over his heart. "Ouch!" Ally picked up a letter opener impaling him in the chest. He winced in pain then cocked his head sighing heavily. "When are you going to learn that just pisses me off." He grabbed the end of the letter opener and pulled it out throwing it on the ground at her feet. Ally fumed. "So does this mean our date for tonight is off?" She picked up a lamp and threw it at him. Sylar held up his hand swiping it against the air sending the lamp crashing against the opposite wall.

Ally began to sob with frustration. "Why are you doing this?" She looked up at him frightfully. "Are you planning on killing me?"

"No. I don't want to hurt you." He said gently. "We just need to take you back with us."

"Back where?" She demanded folding her arms.

"To New York." He said gravely. "There is somebody there who wants to meet you very badly."

"About _what_?" Her tone was insistent. Unseen by Sylar Ally placed her damp finger into an electricity socket sucking up its current. "Well if he or she wants to talk to me they can get off their fat ass and come here!"

"She doesn't like the cold." He snickered. "Which you will likely find humorous when you meet her. My nickname for her is Ice Bi..."

Before he could finish, Sylar was hit with a flash of electricity emitting from her hand. He fell to the floor laughing as Ally seethed. He stood up singing. "_Anything you can do, I can do better_." He shot a bolt of lightning back at her. She held her hand up absorbing the electricity through her fingers.

"Lets see you do _that_!" She scoffed triumphantly. Her victory was short lived as she felt herself being levitated off the ground.

"Foreplay is fun, but not when I'm not winning." She winced and flailed trying to break her grasp as Sylar circled her keeping her at bay. "And now that I have your undivided attention, permit me to _properly_ introduce myself. As I said, they call me Sylar. There was a time when I was a serial killer." He placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I guess I still am, but I am more choosy about my victims these days." He looked at her condescendingly. "Yours? Pffft! Been there, done that…bought the t-shirt!" He ran his finger from her lips down to her cleavage. "However, I am on a new quest; I am in the recruit and rescue department."

"How nice!" She quipped sarcastically. "So are you here to rescue me, or recruit me?" She asked angrily leering down at him. "Or are you planning on adding me to your list of murder victims?"

"I told you; I won't hurt you." He looked up at her half-smiling. "But as for the rest of it, I don't know. That all depends on you."

Ally shot a charge of electricity from her fingers hitting him squarely in the groin. She instantly was released as Sylar fell to the ground holding himself screaming in agony.

"Try growing _those_ back!" Ally laughed spitefully as the front door slammed open and Jesse came running in.

"Ally!" He ran to his sister embracing her.

"Oh Jesse!" She sobbed holding on to him tightly. "Thank God!"

"Are you ok." He looked her over. "Did he hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine." She assured him. "I'm so sorry I got us into this Jesse! You were right!"

"We can talk about this later." He threw her coat to her. "Common! We need to get out of here before he comes after us!"

"Who?" Ally asked pulling on her coat.

"The guy with the glasses." Jesse grabbed her hand as they made a run for the door just as it slammed shut in front of them.

"Excuse me!" He shouted. They turned around slowly looking at Sylar who stood grinning completely healed. "I think I made it very clear that I don't like it when I don't get my way. So I don't think you two are going to be going anywhere, except with us."

Jesse rolled his eyes glowering at Ally. "You couldn't have taken home a nice Catholic boy."

"Shut up." She snarled back at him.

"I used to be an Altar Boy." Sylar piped up then walked to Ally. "And after the night…and morning your sister and I had…" He smiled touching Ally's face. "…I would love to see the look on that priests face if I went to confession on Sunday."

Ally jerked her face away from him spitting on him. "Fuck you!" She spewed making him laugh.

"Oh you are one hell of a passionate woman." He turned and walked across the room putting his shirt on. "If I had a little more time, I could fall in love with you." He blew her a kiss.

"Don't make me puke!" She hissed slowly.

"Are you loaded?" Jesse whispered to her as she nodded quickly. "On the count of three; one…two…three!" They held out their hands as Jesse set him on fire. Ally bent down and gave him a swift kick in the head then shot lightening into him as he screamed from the pain.

Ally grabbed Jesse's hand. "We have to hurry…he can heal himself." They ran to the door opening it quickly.

But they came to a stop as Ally began to screamed and fell to the ground unconscious. She was hit with a tazer in her chest causing her to convulsate..

"Ally!" Jesse shouted trying to run to her, but was stopped when he too was hit in the shoulder with a tazer. Before he fell he looked up at the man with the horned rimmed glasses. As he tried to speak he fell down cold.

Sylar came over and stood next to Bennet. "Good work." Bennet articulated coolly still looking down at the twins lying on the floor.

"Thank you." He replied looking at Ally who lay on her back with her head turned on its side; her copper hair spilling across her face. "Are they going to be ok?"

Bennet raised his head in a slow, gradual motion scowling at him. "Do you care?"

"Not really." He replied slowly reaching down brushing the hair off of her face. "I'm just curious to know what will happen to them."

Bennet began to laugh with growing intensity. "You let her get to you, didn't you?"

"No! I didn't let her get to me!" Sylar rolled his eyes with annoyance. "Do I look like a freaking people person to you?" He sneered. "No, I guess when I spend the night banging a woman I am gentleman enough to want to see her treated well." He narrowed his eyes to slits. "They won't be turned over to the government, right?"

Bennet did not answer him. "The team will be here shortly to get them to the plane." He told him grimly then threw his boots to him. "Finish getting yourself dressed, lover boy. We have a long flight home ahead of us." He stepped over the twins and out the door.

Sylar stared down at Ally tenderly then reached down touching her face before he walked out the door after Bennet.

_**To be continued…**_


	4. Chapter 4

**THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE  
**_Chapter 4 – Prisoner 62_

_January 25, 2008_

The transport jet carrying Ally, Jesse, Sylar and Bennet sped toward New York. A blizzard raged outside the plane, but the pilot managed to stay above the turbulence as the twins remained unconscious.

Bennet walked out of the cockpit to get himself some coffee. As he headed toward the back of the plane, he could see Sylar casually sitting back in a chair next to Ally's cot playing with a Nintendo DS. He stood in the doorway shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Is she still out?" He asked eying him coolly.

"Um hmm." Sylar nodded not looking up from the game he was playing. "She's stirred a few times, but she hasn't opened her eyes yet."

Bennet cocked his head forebodingly. "You do realize when she wakes up she is going to one pissed off lady."

"Yeah…" Sylar smiled looking up at him. "…but I like my women feisty." He looked up at Bennet. "How much longer until we land?"

He looked down at his watch. "About an hour." Slowly he raised his eyes looking at Sylar. "I'm going to go check on the brother." He walked to another door. Before entering he stopped and glared at Sylar. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"I'll be a perfect little gentleman." He grinned sardonically as Bennet rolled his eyes walking through the door.

Ally softly moved her head from side to side letting out a soft moan as she began to stir. Sylar watched her contemplatively thinking about the night before when she lay next to him. He remembered her smooth skin against his while sleeping in between the moments of heated passion.

The sex was good; perhaps too good. And rather he wished to admit it aloud or not, she had gotten to him as Noah had warned him she might. Not only was she beautiful, but there was a depth to her spirit and a sweetness in her laughter that diluted tough rock chick image she tried to emanate. She was fun and full of life and for the first time in a long time; perhaps ever, he felt care free. She was an innocent who did not know what he was and for only that night he was able to step outside the darkness inside of him; it felt good.

But with the morning light came the truth. And now she hated him; again a reality which brought sadness to him.

He had only once experienced these feelings. Elle Bishop; a woman-child with a sociopathic personality and a sadistic spirit had once been his love. It was an uncomfortable kind of love yet with her silken blonde hair and dancing blue eyes she brought much needed life and sovereignty to his dreary existence.

But in the end he knew there would be no happiness. Their tarnished souls could never be free to love. One night on a sandy beach, he laid her down once more to make love to her; only to take her life.

Back to the present, a tear trickled down his cheek as he watched Ally lying there. Sleep brought an angelic air of innocence about her. Her barely parted lips beckoning to him was more than he could stand; he bent down and gently kissed her.

The soft moist pressure caressing her lips roused Ally back to consciences. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as Sylar's face came into focus.

"Awaken sleeping beauty." She heard him whisper into her ear. "Your prince has come to take you away."

Now fully awake, she tried to raise her foot to kick him, but she painfully learned she was shackled to the cot. He stood just out of reach taunting her with mocking laughter. "You asshole!" She spat venomously as she fruitlessly attempted again to attack. Sylar's goading mirth intensified her rage. She flopped back against the pillows visibly fuming. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you!" Her nose wrinkled in contempt. "I'm not going to be in these restraints forever!"

"And just what do you think _you_ are going to be able to do to _me_ when…and if…you get out of there?" He smiled derisively.

"Just know that I am not a girl you want to fuck with!" She sneered spitefully, her crystal blue eyes narrowing to slits. "I don't like to be jerked around!"

"Well I got news for you, sweetness!" He leered into her face. "You are about to be jerked around…_a lot_! And by people that make me look like a fucking Eagle Scout! So get used to it, princess! Because if you think my partner and I are assholes, just wait until you meet who we are protecting you from!"

"Protecting me?" She jerked up a shackled hand. "_This_ is what you call protecting me?"

Sylar sat on the edge of the cot folding his hands in front of him. "After spending last night with you, I was clearly under the impression you like it rough." He gave her a slow smile.

"So last night was just a game to you." She blinked sadly looking up at him. "Everything you said about wanting to take my sadness away? That was all part of the plan?"

Sylar's face went sullen. "I'm sorry. But yeah…my only objective was to take you in."

Ally stared wryly at him. "You had every opportunity to take me down after we left the tavern. With your little bag of tricks you could have easily taken me into custody. Why didn't you just detain me then?"

The corners of his lips turned up as he leaned forward. "Because it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun." He moved in closer to her face. "And admit it…it _was_ fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Ally leaned in closer whispering. "…it was." She rubbed her lips against his. "And so was the guy the night before…and the night before that!" She bit into his lower lip causing him to scream.

"Goddamn it!" He painfully pulled his forearm over the wound as tears came out of his eyes, as he glared at her in rage. "Crazy bitch!" He seethed.

Ally laughed watching him react in pain as she wiped his blood off her lips with her sleeve. "Oh, don't be such a baby!"

"What is going on in here?" Bennet came storming from the adjoining cabin holding his coffee.

Sylar painfully pointed to his lip as it began to heal. "She nearly bit my lip off!" He shouted with a lisp pointing at Ally who shrugged her shoulders incorrigibly.

Bennet pressed his teeth into his tongue to keep from laughing. "You probably deserved it!"

Ally glowered insolently at Bennet. "Where is my brother?"

Bennet tapped on the wall. "Right behind here." He replied. "He's sleeping off the sedative you were both given."

"So if the plan was to keep us knocked out until we reach point B…" She raised her arm shaking the shackle. "…what are these for?"

He narrowed his eyes. "It is for the safety of the airplane crew. You and your brother have potentially dangerous abilities which need to be kept under control."

"I know you probably don't care, but these really hurt." She moved the cuff back and forth. "Can you just let me out until we land?"

Bennet eyed her composedly. "I'm afraid that is not an option."

"Why are you treating me like a prisoner?" She shook her head tearfully. "Do you think I want this thing I'm able to do?"

"Oh cry me a river!" Sylar groaned. "Do you really think tears are going to change our minds?"

"Shut up!" She shouted at him then looked back at Bennet. "What have we ever done to deserve this? We have never hurt anyone and we aren't going to start now!"

Bennet sighed hesitantly. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Ally took a deep breath rolling her eyes irritably. "We are 30,000 feet above the ground. Where in the hell am I going to go?"

Bennet nodded thoughtfully than removed his keys from his pocked.

Sylar's mouth gaped open incredulously. "Oh, you are not buying those waterworks are you?" He shook his head. "You are such a sucker! Do you really think she is going to go with us peacefully?"

Bennet continued to unlock her shackles. "She gave me her word. I believe her."

Ally smirked at Sylar tauntingly.

"Ok; your free." Bennet unlocked the last cuff.

"Thank you." Ally replied rubbing her ankle. She stood up as Sylar came up behind her with his arms folded.

"Oh…you're good!" He sneered wrinkling his nose. "You could win an Oscar for that performance."

"You think so?" She smiled cynically. "Because once I make it big as a rock star, I thought I would go the Madonna route and break into movies."

"There's not enough stale popcorn that would make me waste my money to see it." He walked past her shaking his head.

Ally casually tossed a pillow between his feet causing him to stumble then fall on his face. Bennet broke into hysterical laughter as she bit her lower lip smiling.

Sylar sat up angrily glaring at Bennet as Ally leaned down whispering in his ear. "I told him _he_ would be safe; I made no such promise to you." She gave him a shove as she walked away.

Bennet smiled as he watched her. "I like this girl!" He stepped over Sylar following her to Jesse's cot.

Sylar held up his hand. "A little help?" He snarled.

Bennet turned around staring at him coolly. "No." He replied as Sylar continued to lie there fuming.

When Bennet caught up with Ally, she was sitting on the edge of Jesse's cot stroking his hair. He walked over and released him from his cuffs. "He will most likely be waking up soon. It's best to wait it out rather than trying to wake him."

"I know." She replied looking down at her brother. "I just want to be here when he wakes up." She slowly raised her eyes looking at Bennet. "Out of the two of us, he is the sensitive one."

"I gathered that." He half-smiled. "You're very close, aren't you?"

"We've been taking care of each other since our mom died." She replied sadly. "My dad traveled a lot and our brother was no help, so we only had each other to rely on."

"So you raised yourselves." He nodded slowly.

Ally pulled up Jesse's blanket then stood up glaring distrustfully up at Bennet. "Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"I suppose I have a curious nature." He responded dryly.

She folded her arms across her chest still eying him skeptically. "Two years ago you locked me up and tried to keep me away from my brother." She retorted. "And now you are trying to get on my good side. Why?"

His lips turned up slightly. "Perhaps I am not the bastard you have perceived me to be." He sat down in a chair as Ally's expression seemed to soften. "I know what you must think about me and you have every reason to feel the way you do." He leaned forward folding his hands in front of him. "My motives may not always fall into the human kindness category, but know this; it is my job to keep people like you and your brother safe. Our methods may appear brutal, but overall we have your best interest in mind."

"Ok." She nodded still unsure of her level of trust for him. "Let's say I believe you. Then why did you keep Jesse and me against our will two years ago?"

"When we heard about the night club fire, we had no way of knowing if your abilities were responsible for the fire, or if you were victims of your own gifts. Evaluation was necessary for us to know if you needed to be detained or simply watched." His eyes bore into her gravely.

"And now?" She replied guardedly.

"And now I think you were two scared kids who found out they had abilities and didn't know what to do with them."

"Scared? You have no idea." Ally slowly sat in a chair across from him. "I lost my fiancé that night." Her eyes began to tear up. "My whole world fell apart."

Bennet reached over handing her a box of Kleenex which she took. "I know." He replied gently. "I'm sorry."

She dabbed her eyes. "He was the love of my life." She looked back up at Bennet. "I could have saved him." The tears were now spilling out of her eyes. "Nobody had to die that night! If only we had known…"

Bennet sighed heavily sitting back in his chair. "As difficult as it is for you to see it this way, you must believe me that the way this turned out was for the best."

Ally stopped wiping her eyes and looked up at him in disbelief. "What?" She whispered. "How can you say that?"

"If you had known, you would have drawn attention to your abilities and you would have been taken to a government detention facility where people who know nothing about you would have performed experiments on you. And you would never have been released. It would also have opened up an investigation to determine if there are others like you living in the country."

Ally chewed on the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. "Does our government really hate us that much?"

"Humans always hate what they do not understand." He replied slowly. Before he could continue they heard Jesse began to moan. Ally quickly jumped up and ran to him.

"Jesse!" She sat on the edge of his cot gently dabbing his face with a cool cloth. "Can you hear me?"

His eyes began to slowly quiver open as Ally smiled down at him. He looked at Bennet standing behind her. "You son-of-a-bitch!" His voice came out raspy and dripped with disdain.

"Don't try to talk." Ally gently stroked his hair.

Jesse ignored her as he continued his glowering at Bennet over her shoulder. "Where are they taking us?"

"As soon as I know, so will you." She looked back at Bennet still untrustworthy of his motives. "Right now he is the man with all the answers and he is being very stingy with that information."

He jerked his head around looking up at Ally. "Please don't tell me you are making nice with him."

Ally looked up at Bennet then down at Jesse. "We understand each other."

Bennet headed for the compartment door. "I'll let you two talk. I'm going to make sure my partner stays out of trouble."

Ally's nose wrinkled in contempt. "Just keep him away from me."

"I'll see what I can do." Bennet nodded half smiling.

As Bennet left, Jesse looked up at Ally. His face sunk as he saw Ally's almost dreamy gaze. "Oh Ally, you can't be serious!"

She shrugged uncertainly. "About…?"

Jesse slowly propped himself up. "I know that look! You are falling in love with him, aren't you?"

"Who?" She looked around the cabin. "You mean John Denver? Well he is kind of hot for an older guy, but don't you think he's a little old for me? Besides, he's married."

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb; you never were very good at it. You know exactly who I am talking about!"

Ally's face crumpled in disgust. "What? Him?" She began to laugh. "Jesse, he is a killer!"

He smiled knowingly. "But you didn't know that last night."

"And now I do." She insisted. "Now he means shit to me!'

He laughed shaking his head disbelievingly. "Quit bullshitting me Al! I know you! I know you better than you know yourself and right now I know that you are lying to me! Now cut the shit and tell me the truth!"

Ally closed her eyes letting off a defeated sigh. "Ok fine! _Before_ I knew what he was, I admit I was starting to think maybe it was time to let go of Brad and let my heart love again." She half-smiled to herself remembering. "For the first time in over two years I felt happy and I even found myself laughing because it felt good to laugh." Her lips formed a thin line as she shrugged. "But then I found out he was only there to capture me and all bets were off. So there is no sense in lamenting about it anymore."

Jesse nodded thoughtfully. "Can you just tell me one thing? How many times have you thought about Brad today?"

Her eyes bolted open staring at him incredulously as Bennet poked his head into the cabin. "I hate to interrupt, but we are going to be landing soon, but first we have some turbulence. It's going to be a bumpy landing."

Ally tensed up as she felt Sylar come up behind her. "But nothing like the ride I gave you last night." He whispered in her ear.

"Piss off!" She sneered venomously as she helped Jesse to a jumper seat. Sylar smiled amused with himself.

* * *

_Guantanamo Bay Cuba  
January 25, 2008_

"How is the problem child this morning?" Marine Colonel Andrew Saulk asked aloud hearing the door open not looking up from his paperwork. The lack of response from the guard caused him to look up; his eyes quickly shot open as he saw his condition. "Jesus Marcos!" He stood up running to the bloodied guard helping him to a sofa. "Are you ok?"

"Does this fucking look _like_ I'm ok!" He tore open his shirt displaying the claw marks on his chest. "That freak damn near ripped my heart out of my chest!" Marcos shouted.

Saulk closed his eyes sighing heavily. "He grows worse by the day."

"He is out of control!" He retorted. "I'm sorry Colonel, but until you find a way to get him under power, find someone else to take his meals!"

Saulk nodded thoughtfully. "I understand." He quickly picked up his phone dialing it quickly. "Yeah, Jeanette…" He barked into the receiver. "…call the infirmary and tell them to get somebody over here immediately. And can you send Roger Barrett in here? Thanks!"

He slammed his phone shut.

A moment later he sat in his desk across from Colonel Barrett who browsed over the files in front of him.

Barrett tossed the file back onto his desk with disbelieving laughter. "You interrupted my golf game with General Bines to show me this?"

Saulk leaned forward folding his hands. "I know how you feel about the war on specials Roger, but…"

Barrett impatiently threw up his hands. "Specials…_do_ not exist!"

"And I am telling you they do!" He replied quietly.

Barrett leaned back in his chair. "Prove it!" He challenged him.

The corners of Saulk's mouth turned upward. He quickly stood up and walked to a nearby closet. He reached inside and removed a body armor ensemble which he tossed to him. "Put this on."

Barrett looked at the black suit lying in his lap. "What is this for?"

"You're going to need it." Saulk replied. "Meet me in the lobby in five minutes. We're going on a field trip." He walked through the door slamming it behind him leaving Barrett staring dubiously.

A short time later Barrett walked behind Saulk through the high security doors.

But what met him on the other side he could not have prepared for.

"Who are these people?" He whispered horrified at the rows of people in cement cells in various states of comatose confinement.

"We like to call this the cement city." He chuckled. "What you are seeing are high level risks; people with the ability to emit fire, electricity, mind reading and super strength just to name a few. These are the ones we are able to keep under detention for the safety…"

"Safety?" Barrett shouted incredulously. "Safety for _whom_? You certainly didn't have these people's safety in mind when you set up this little freak show, did you?" He removed his cell phone from his pocket and began to dial. "I wonder what the President would think of your little side show."

Saulk nodded smugly. "I thought you would say that." He handed him a document with an embossed Presidential seal at the bottom which Barrett snatched from his hand and read intently.

He slowly raised his eyes to Saulk. "This is the President's pet project?"

Saulk nodded contritely. "I know this all looks like we are the bad guys, but in a moment you are going to see what we are protecting the American people from." He walked quickly as Barrett followed him with curious caution.

He walked him to the back of a facility where a highly guarded cell stood. Saulk flashed his security badge to the guard who nodded with recognition as he watched him type in his code.

Before opening the door, Saulk turned to Barrett; a grim expression upon his face. "Be prepared." He warned him cautiously.

"For what?" Barrett replied unsure of what fate was about to greet him on the other side.

"Anything." He warned him as he opened the door.

He followed Saulk inside allowing his eyes to scan the cell. In the corner was what he perceived to be a man in shackles. "What the hell…" He whispered as bright blue eyes peered up at him from out of the darkness. "Who is this man?"

"We call him prisoner 62, but his name is not important." Saulk replied crossing his arms staring at subject. "He has been in our custody for about a week and Homeland Security's wanted list for several months."

Barrett was still dumbfounded. "You say this man has an ability."

Saulk nodded slowly then walked to the other side of the cell where a high pressure hose laid on the ground. "Stand back." He warned him turning on the hose and aiming it at the prisoner who stood up in his shackles screaming as the water hit him tearing his skin.

"Stop!" Barrett shouted. "What in the hell are you doing?" He punched Saulk and turned off the hose. "Christ Andy! What in the fuck is the matter with you?" He turned and pointed to the prisoner's tattoos. "He's one of ours!"

"He's an animal!" Saulk retorted. "Look!" He shouted in horror as the prisoner emitted a low, spine-chilling growl. Barrett's eyes went wide with horror as the prisoner's fingers disappeared and were replaced by long razor sharp claws that looked like knives. "Get the fuck out!" Saulk shouted grabbing his arm as the prisoner let out a banshee like scream as lightening and fire seemed to release from every pore in his body.

Once safely outside the door the men stood catching their breaths.

"What in the fuck was _that_!" Barrett demanded pointing back inside the cell.

"That, is your proof you can cash at the bank." Saulk replied somewhat smugly. "Need more substantiation?"

Barrett quickly shook his head. "No, I'm good. But why are you allowing somebody like that to remain alive? Why not exterminate him?"

"That day is coming." Saulk nodded. "But for now there is a _do not destroy_ order on his charts."

"Why?" Barrett dabbed his forehead with a damp cloth then lit up a cigarette; his hands still shaking.

"I don't know for sure, but from what I understand he is being used to lure someone out of hiding."

Barrett nodded taking a long drag. "Any ideas who?"

"No clue." Saulk finished locking the doors then walked ahead passing the guards giving them a copasetic nod. "But it is somebody of high importance."

Before walking through the bay of cells, Barrett threw his cigarette on the ground sighing heavily through a blur of smoke. "Why are there only men in these cells? Don't women have special abilities?"

He draped his arm across his friends shoulder. "Take a few days to process what you have learned today; the girls are a story for another time."

* * *

Hearing the men pass from the outside wall, she slowly opened her eyes. She stood up futilely pounding on her cell door screaming for someone to help her.

A woman guard angrily slammed open her cell door. "Shut your twat, Blondie! They can't hear you out there and all you are doing is getting on my last good nerve!"

The young woman laughed scornfully. "Good! Then my plan to make your life hell is working like a charm." She slid back into her bunk glowering disdainfully at the guard. "Hideous Bull Dyke!" The guard stomped over and raised her rubber stick to strike, but the look in the woman's eyes made her abruptly stop. "You do that and you'll be pulling back a stump!"

"Your abilities don't work here, sweetness!" The guard hissed.

"Oh yeah?" The woman gave a taunting sneer. "You really don't know that for sure, do you? Do you really want to test that theory and be wrong?"

The guard slowly put down her stick and backed away. "Go to sleep." She turned out the light and walked out of her cell. "You'll need your rest for what I have in store for your pretty little ass tomorrow." She locked the cell and walked away.

Alone in the darkness, the young woman placed her hands on her protruding belly and began to cry softly.

* * *

_Kirby Plaza, New York City  
January 25, 2008_

"What the hell is this place?" Jesse quipped staring at the large orange structure in front of the plaza. "Is this where you keep the bodies?"

"There have been a few bodies floating around as I recall." Bennet cracked looking at Sylar who was fixated on Ally as she stared dreamily at the structure and cement risers on the plaza.

"What's the deal with your sister?" He asked Jesse pointing to Ally.

Jesse narrowed his eyes disdainfully at him then looked at Ally laughing inside. "Well, on the left side of her brain, she is probably plotting how she is going to cut off your dick and stuff it into your ass so you can prove to all that you really can go fuck yourself…" Sylar's face dropped slowly as Bennet shook inwardly biting the inside of his cheeks in order to restrain laughter. "…but the right side of her brain is dreaming of what kinds of airborne slides she can do off that structure and lining up the velocity to do a grind off that crane."

Sylar rolled his eyes around in clueless snarl. "Huh?"

Bennet stepped forward smiling knowingly. "From 1998 to 2001, Allison "Nollie-girl" Collins was the top sidewalk surfing champion of Orange County, California."

Ally broke out of her trance. "You didn't leave any stones unturned, did you?" She snarled folding her arms looking up at Bennet.

"Why did you quit?" Sylar asked curiously.

Jesse stepped forward laughing. "Because when she was seventeen she finally grew a set of tatas and achieved mega-babedom."

Ally shrugged smiling contritely. "One day the boys were trying to compete with me, the next day they were trying to score with me. It just wasn't as much fun anymore." She closed her eyes grinding her teeth together. "And that is all the free information you are going to get out of us until we see a lawyer!" She turned to Jesse smacking his shoulder. "And _you_ quit volunteering my personal business! I don't want these assholes knowing anything."

"Too late." Bennett smiled composedly. "We already know more about you than you even know. And a lawyer will not be necessary because you are about to learn this meeting will not be as adversarial as you have led yourselves to believe."

"Really!" Ally shouted. "You track us down in the most obscure place on earth…Alaska…the last frontier; you try to kidnap my brother; you send your partner to copulate and kidnap me…you bring us against our will clear all the way across the country and you wonder why we are pissed off?"

Sylar thoughtfully scratched his head. "Well when you put it that way it does sound a little insensitive, doesn't it?"

Ally rolled her eyes and turned to Sylar. "I hope you pass a stone the size of a golf ball through your dick!"

"Ok, that's enough!" Bennet shouted over them, then turned to Ally and Jesse. "Look, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we will be done and you can have your lives back."

Ally looked up at him taken aback. "What are you saying? You're going to let us go?"

"That all depends on your willingness to work with us." Bennet replied calmly.

Jesse closed his eyes laughing expectantly. "I knew _that_ shoe was about to drop." He looked at Ally. "What do you say we zap these guys dicks off and get out of here."

Ally shook her head dejectedly looking at Sylar. "I already tried it with that one." She smiled down at his crotch. "It grows back."

Jesse started to speak until he saw Sylar's smirk. "I'm sure this is something I really don't want to know about, so I'm going to pretend I never heard that."

Ally insolently folded her arms glaring at Bennet. "Ok…here's the thing…you unlocked the cuffs and allowed us to ride over here with a little dignity. And we are grateful." She leaned in narrowing her eyes. "But if you even so much as try to mess with us, all bets are off and you will have a hell of a fight on your hands!" She turned to look at Sylar. "Your boy here may be super-charged, but as far as I can see you're not, so don't fuck with us; got it?"

He smiled slowly. "Well I guess this means we had better be on our best behavior; isn't that right, partner?"

"Oh, absolutely." Sylar smirked at Ally who wrinkled her nose disdainfully.

"Uh huh." Jesse glared skeptically. "I trust you about as far as I can throw Jabba the Hut." He leaned into Sylar. "And if you ever come near my sister again I will…"

"Do you think you scare me, boy?" He scoffed as Jesse came at him swinging.

"Ok…back off!" Bennet shouted as Sylar laughed caustically at Jesse. Bennet grabbed his arm. "From this moment on you are going to be the perfect gentleman and quit goading these two! Understood?"

"Understood master." Sylar forged disgrace, but laughed to himself as Bennet eyed him coldly.

"Smart man!" Bennet replied then turned to the twins. "Well, there are people inside who are looking forward to meeting you, so what do you say we not keep them waiting any longer." He held out his hand urging them forward.

They looked at each other then at Bennet and Sylar suspiciously. "How do we know we aren't walking into a trap?" Ally whispered harshly.

Bennet nodded composedly. "If we wanted to incarcerate you, you wouldn't be here. We don't bother with traps."

Jesse stood folding his arms hesitantly. "Say something to convince me you are telling the truth."

Bennet thought for a moment chewing the side of his mouth. "I have an eighteen year old daughter and a seventeen year old son. There was a time when I lied to my family about what I once did, but that time is past. My keeping secrets almost tore apart my family, but on the day I got them back again, I swore that I would never do anything to betray them again. I do not want to have to tell them that I lied again." He held out his hand to Jesse. "I give you my word as a gentleman that no harm will come to you."

Jesse baulked for a moment before reaching out taking his hand. "Fair enough. Then we have a deal?"

"Deal." He replied coolly as he headed inside followed by Jesse.

Ally turned to follow them, but was blocked by Sylar. "Alone at last." He grinned wiggling his eyebrows.

"Out of my way!" She hissed elbowing him in the ribcage, then groaning with frustration as he continued to obstruct her path. "Look! You got what you wanted from me! Why must you follow me around making my life hell?"

Sylar's face softened some. "Ally, if it helps at all, it wasn't just business to me. If things were different…" He stopped talking as he felt the harshness of her hand across his face.

"If things were different?" She almost screamed. "How could things be different? You told me you were a killer! You almost bragged about it! And to think for a moment I was beginning to feel…" She closed her eyes blinking back tears. "I guess this is what I get for betraying his memory."

"Whose memory?" He whispered tenderly taking her arm.

She angrily jerked her arm away from him. "Don't. You. Dare!" She spat venomously at him. "You do not get to ask about him! You are not even fit to discuss him."

"Ally…" He tried to reason with her.

Ally continued; every word dripping with contempt. "I had somebody special once! And then he died and I that was the day I died inside!" She began to cry. "My whole world fell apart because of that night and because of being on the run from people like you! I have lost my ability to feel…to love! I became a reckless tramp…but do you think it is because I enjoy sex that much? No, it is because I am so desperate for the security he gave me when I was in his arms! Every man…every night I searched his eyes for him. But I never found it." She looked up at him scornfully. "That is until last night." She shook her head as Sylar lowered his eyes. "You know, sometimes I'm a bitch and I am not above doing whatever I have to do to get where I want to be in life. I may be a lot of things, but the one thing I am not is a liar! I am twenty-four years old and I have never told a lie in my life! And as many men as I have slept with, I have never used any of them!" She took a deep breath trying to catch her composure. "Maybe I'm naïve, but I never thought I would allow a man to hurt me this way." She placed her hands on her hips staring at the ground. "I guess it is what I deserve." She looked up into his eyes. "But no matter what my sins…no woman should ever have to lower herself to scratch the underbelly of a snake. Because that is exactly what you are!"

She turned on her heel and brushed past him nearly knocking him over in her wake. Sylar stared at the ground thoughtfully then raised his eyes watching her walk inside the building. A malevolent grin spread across his face.

"Oh, you are a fun one, Allison Collins." He whispered aloud to himself. "And here I thought this assignment was going to be boring." He slowly sauntered inside meeting her at the elevator.

"Slimy serpent!" She sneered at him.

"Intolerable bitch!" He grinned slowly as they entered the elevator.

As the door closed they began savagely kissing while tearing off each others clothes.

_**To be continued…**_


End file.
